Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse for the Boston Bruins, there seems to always be a way for a frustratingly lost hockey season to get a little more out of reach for the Black and Gold.
The new low was getting lustily booed off the TD Garden ice on Saturday night in a 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where they were outshot 21-0 in the second period, and essentially admitted afterward they got what they deserved when it was mercifully over.
Bruins fans express their displeasure after Boston fails to record a single shot on goal in the second period 😬 pic.twitter.com/FVhDqrasZ3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 16, 2025
So what went wrong?
“A lot,” said Joe Sacco. “For one, Tampa Bay pushed really hard. They came out pretty determined in that second period and we weren’t able to execute under that pressure. Coming out of our defensive zone we turned the puck over too much and we didn’t have proper support for each other all over the ice.
“When you have breakdowns, especially in the second period with the long change, when you’re not able to get off and you get stuck out on the ice, and you’re hemmed in the zone for a while. We couldn’t come out of the zone clean, had a hard time handling their pressure and weren’t able to execute. That’s what happened in the second period. Obviously, the players are trying to survive out there at that moment, but you’ve got to dig in, get the puck and say to myself that ‘I’m going to execute and get us out of trouble here, and get it out of the zone.’
Mathematically, the Bruins are alive for a playoff spot just four points behind the New York Rangers for the final wild card slot, but there are very few people who believe they would be better off sliding into the NHL Draft lottery for a top-10 pick in June.
They certainly played like that was their aim in getting slapped around by the Lightning and flogging themselves after it was all over like beaten down dogs that feel like they are counting down the days until the season is over.
"It was embarrassing. The compete level was nowhere to be found. Unacceptable. The fans pay a lot of money to come here and watch us play,” said Elias Lindholm, who finished with a goal and two points in the loss. “They have every right to boo when the effort was like that. The second period was the worst I've seen us play this year.”
And that is certainly saying something in a season where Boston’s erratic, oft-uninspired play led to Jim Montgomery being fired 20 games into the season, and then led to a fire sale of Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo and Trent Frederic at the trade deadline.
There were some slight positives like the two goals scored in four games for Marat Khusnutdinov, including one to start the third period on Saturday night, as he looks like a good asset acquired in the Justin Brazeau trade with the Minnesota Wild.
But it was also a night where the B’s top line of Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak combined for a measly four shots on net and was a minus-7 while Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul did major damage for the Bolts. Given the lack of roster depth and overall talent on the Bruins roster after the trade deadline, there is zero chance for the B’s to compete for the rest of this season when their top line struggles that badly.
“We deserved it,” admitted Zacha of both the result and the catcalls from Bruins fans. “It is frustrating, especially not having a shot on goal for the whole [second] period. You can’t play like that. It was embarrassing. We just have to be way better in the next game. They just played smarter and more direct and that is something we have to adjust to and do a better job.”
One thing that’s become very clear is that the Bruins can’t afford to give too much ice to players like Parker Wotherspoon, who has really had his flaws revealed in the last couple of games, and also need to live with the mistakes 24-year-old Mason Lohrei is going to make soaking up big minutes with Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm sidelined. Lohrei is a minus-7 in the last two games, a minus-9 in the month of March and a team-worst minus-25 on the season as he continues to play a high-risk, high-reward game on the back end that’s also allowed him to rack up a team-best 29 points among defensemen this season.
Those are growing pains for a Bruins team that’s already waved the white flag on this season, but the hope is ultimately those will lead to gains in the long-term view for a hockey club giving up on the short term.
ONE TIMERS
One has to wonder how far away the Bruins are from giving young players like Georgii Merkulov and Fabian Lysell extended auditions to end a regular season that does not feel like it’s going to include playoffs. The 22-year-old Lysell hasn’t exactly torn it up with the Bruins, with 11 goals and 33 points in 50 games after posting 15 goals and 50 points in 56 games last season, and the 24-year-old Merkulov didn’t do much to distinguish himself in six games with the NHL club this season.
Critics will say that Lysell doesn’t play a team game and can be disengaged at times, while Merkulov may just not be fast enough or big enough to make the jump from AHL scorer to NHL roster player.
“It’s hard. We’ll figure all of that stuff out in the next few days. Monday we have a game [against Buffalo] and then we go on the road for five games,” said Sacco. “So we’ll have time to talk about that stuff. But we have opportunity here and we’re looking at players now. But we just need a better showing. We need to be able to dig in more and respond from a game we’re obviously not happy with tonight.”
One player that has maximized his time down in Providence is Oliver Wahlstrom with six goals in six AHL games since clearing through waivers and heading down to the AHL. It remains to be seen if the former first-round pick will be back up in Boston this season, though, as the B’s want to give long looks to guys like Khusnutdinov, Jakub Lauko, Casey Mittelstadt and perhaps Fraser Minten at some point after landing those guys at the deadline.
*So is the door ajar for Brad Marchand to return to the Bruins as a free agent this summer? The 36-year-old certainly didn’t close the door while coming back to Boston earlier this week as a member of the Florida Panthers.
“I don’t know, I guess is how I would respond," said Marchand, wearing Florida Panthers gear when asked about a possible return to Boston this summer. "I don’t know what the future brings in terms of how it plays out in the summertime. I know it didn’t come together now. Can things change down the road? Potentially, but that’s to be seen.
“I’m sure we’ll have a conversation down the road, but I don’t know where that goes. I’ll say I would still love … like, it doesn’t change my love for the city, and the will to want to be here has never changed. I don’t think it will ever change."
Brad Marchand was asked what his message would be to Bruins fans who are upset about the trade, and gave a five and a half minute answer. pic.twitter.com/EJlu11IT6D
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) March 11, 2025
While it speaks to how much Marchand loves Boston, and his time with the Bruins, in still keeping the door ajar, it would be kind of surprising for the B’s to go back there if they truly want to retool, and perhaps in some ways turn the page from a Black and Gold era that probably ended when they couldn’t finish off the record-breaking regular season with a loaded hockey team a couple of years ago.
They may not be able to effectively move on if they keep tied to the past glories and championships that are now in the rear view.
It also wouldn’t be surprising to this humble hockey writer if one thing that ultimately caused Marchand contract negotiations to take a turn was the rich free-agent deal they signed Elias Lindholm to last summer. It sounds like Marchand wanted something in the neighborhood of the $7.75 million they’re paying Lindholm (He was asking $7.5 million per year and the B’s were stuck at $6.3 million per year) for the foreseeable future, and nobody could blame him for that based on the NHL standing of both players at this point.
That is why rich contracts handed out to players by NHL teams can have wide-ranging negative effects if those players don’t live up to the money and term after coming over in free agency.